Summoner
by Fey Nikola
Summary: General Final Fantasy mash-up. Captured in a Templar stronghold, Desmond Miles breaks free with the help of a double agent. Now, with nowhere left to go, the last of the summoners is on a quest to help his rescuer and her allies stop the Abstergo Empire before the Templars take total control of the world. But with a cataclysm on the horizon, will they have the time or the strength?


Black flames engulfed his sword as the magic built. Frenzied, the spell blazed into a sigil under his targets. Desmond opened his eyes as he ran his hand over the length of the Dark Blade, drawing the black magic into his body.

The shrouded figure appeared in the center of the sigil. Only a long, clawed hand could be seen, the rest hidden by shadows and a dark, echoing laughter.

"Death." He intoned.

The claw swept lazily through the air, and a rippling redness seemed to fall over his enemies. There was a choking moment of uncertainty, and then like puppet's strings being cut, the targets fell; dead.

The spectre of Death lingered a moment, feeding on the remains of Life snuffed out. The magic dissipated quickly and the sigil faded fast, taking the spectre with it.

Light and his comrade seemed to come back into being as Desmond stepped back, flicking his sword as if to remove the last of the black spell. The guards' bodies lay crumpled on the threshold of the gate, bloodless and cold.

"I thought you were a Summoner." Lucy spoke quietly. They stood there at the exit, moments from freedom. More guards could be heard approaching from the castle's interior.

Desmond released the Dark Blade, letting it disappear into the ether until he needed it again. "I'm a lot of things."

They ran for the chocobos.

"One of the Last of the Summoners, huh?" The Dragoon circled him, her smile friendly and open. Somehow, though, Desmond still felt like an Ice Elemental in a room full of Fire Flans.

"That's what they tell me."

She leaned her long spear against her shoulder as she came to a halt beside Lucy. "I wouldn't have guessed. You don't exactly look like you're the type to sit back and let someone else do all the fighting."

Desmond smiled uncertainly and rolled his staff between his hands. "Thanks, I think."

"She means you look more like a sword-swinging ape than a magic-user of any kind. Not really much of a compliment, but she means well." An accented voice cut in a moment before a tall ginger-haired man loading a pistol walked into the room.

"Shaun, this is Desmond. Desmond, our resident Gunner and sometimes Blue Mage: Shaun." Lucy introduced, taking her attention off the tassels she'd been imbuing for only a moment.

"Charmed." Shaun remarked drily.

"Same here." Desmond replied, unable to help a small smirk at the man's attitude.

"He's the Summoner." Rebecca added helpfully.

"Oh, is he?" Shaun holstered the pistol on his thigh and shrugged his rifle into a more comfortable position over his shoulder. "Well that's nice! Rebecca, do try not to state the painfully obvious. Lucy wouldn't have broken him out of the castle just for a good laugh."

"You never know. He could be a Green Mage and used Confuse to make her help him escape." Rebecca countered.

"Wait, neither of you had him summon something to make sure he's the one we're looking for?"

Lucy snipped off the last stray metallic fiber and presented the completed tassels to Rebecca. "He was the only prisoner in the entire dungeon, and there were twelve guards around his cell alone. I was reasonably confident." She smirked.

Rebecca gleefully clipped the tassels onto one of the decorative rings of her spear, removing a worn charm as she did. The weapon glowed, then seemed to grow slightly wider and a little longer. Small spikes grew out of the back of the spearhead, and the handle turned a light tan and black that matched her bodysuit-armour. "Wow, that's lighter alright. You did it again, Lucy!" Rebecca gave a few practice lunges which, in the small inn room they'd rented, meant that she nearly eviscerated the pillow on one bed.

"Thanks. We'll be in here; you guys have the room next door. We'll be leaving before first light, so get to sleep early. No chocobos this time, Desmond, so wear your walking shoes." Then her face softened and she gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. "The sooner we're out of this town, the better."

"Right. Goodnight."

Shaun followed behind him as Desmond took the quick detour out into the hallway before heading into the room they'd be sharing. It was identical to the girls', though neither of their pillows was punctured.

"So, are you going to summon something, or will I have to sleep with my eyes open?" Somehow, it sounded less like a question when Shaun's hand was resting on his pistol grip.

Desmond shrugged, pulling his black bag over his head and tossing it onto the bed near the door. "Sure, any requests?"

"How about, oh, I don't know, something small? This place is already drafty enough without taking out the roof as well." Shaun rolled his eyes and Desmond copied him, though with a much more droll expression.

"Sure, I can handle that."

He traced a circle around himself with the head of his staff, the caliper-like symbol spinning rapidly as the summoning crest appeared under his feet. He lifted his staff sideways above his head, the contract fixed in his mind as he called on his ally.

"Wark!"

In a flurry of sparkling yellow light, his adolescent Chocobo Summon appeared behind him, giving his white hood a playful nibble before moving around him to do battle.

Seeing nothing dangerous except perhaps the potted plants on the window sill, Chocobo padded over to try a beak-full. Shaun looked supremely unimpressed, but his hands weren't at his weapon anymore, so Desmond called that a win.

"A chocobo? Really?"

Desmond shrugged and pulled the large beak away from the cowering greenery. "You said not big. I only know one other summon, and it wouldn't exactly fit in here."

"You only know two summons?" Shaun asked incredulously and then started to rub at his temples. "You're going to be utterly useless on this quest."

Desmond scratched under Chocobo's chin to distract him. "I may only have two summons, but I know how to do more than that. Hey, what's this in your crest?" Desmond mumbled as he worked his way up behind Chocobo's head.

"Kweh." Chocobo cooed softly as Desmond pulled Shaun's pistol out from behind Chocobo's crest feathers.

"What, that's my-" Shaun's hand shot to his empty holster. Desmond smiled and held out the gun, handle first. Suspiciously, Shaun took it back and popped out the clip to check the bullets. "So you're a Thief, then. I _will_ have to sleep with my eyes open."

"Only if you don't trust me." With a pointed wave of his hand, Chocobo 'Wark'ed one last time and dissipated into yellow motes of light.

The crystal pulsed softly. If you weren't paying attention, you probably wouldn't even be aware of it. But since it flickered in time with the voices Desmond could just barely hear whispering around them, he'd noticed.

The cavern dripped with water, stalagmites ringing the central chamber. Their perfect cone shapes reached up out of shallow pools, each one a perfect circle. The altar the crystal hovered over was a pure white stone, completely unlike anything they'd seen in this dungeon.

Lucy waited until Shaun finished Scanning the room before she let anyone go any further than the entry. He nodded, and they all relaxed. Rebecca sighed with relief and tried to wipe some of the grime off her face. Desmond was just glad that they'd get a moment to rest after fighting that giant dragon. Trying to snatch the gems embedded in its back might be worth the pain and exhaustion, but he would be glad for a break from the monsters all the same.

"All right Desmond, you're up." Lucy gestured to the altar.

He paused halfway to sitting down. "Uh, what?"

"Don't you recognize the altar?" Rebecca asked, having sat down with no interruptions. Desmond shook his head.

"Not really, no. Should I?" He asked when it became clear they expected him to.

Shaun rolled his eyes as he refilled a spare clip. "Oh fantastic! The summoner doesn't even recognize a Summon's Altar. How about the Chamber of the Fayth? A Guardian Force's Pedestal? An Esper Stone? Does any of this ring a bell?"

Desmond just shook his head. "Sorry. I never really had much in the way of formal training."

"So you're about as much use as that Knot of Rust you tossed at the dragon then." Shaun scoffed.

Lucy held up a hand in Shaun's direction. "That's enough. Desmond, that stone up there is the entire reason we're here."

Rebecca nodded and gestured toward the pure white stone with her spear. "That rock there can give you another summon. A powerful one too."

"If you believe local legends, which really don't have any substantial evidence." Shaun muttered loudly.

Desmond shrugged and took a few steps toward it before hesitating. "Uh, how do I make it work?"

Shaun looked halfway to apoplexy and Lucy cut him off before he could explode. "You go up to it and commune with the summon."

"According to legend, the way each summoner communes is unique to that summoner. Which you should know, since you have at least one, albeit useless, summon already." Shaun scoffed, unloading his rifle to give it a quick cleaning.

"Well, I didn't really commune or anything." Desmond shrugged, "But hey, I'll give it a try."

Rebecca gave him a thumb's up from where she lay on the floor, and Lucy smiled at him as she swapped her gauntlets. Shaun just snorted and gestured for him to hurry up.

He walked up the steps, intrigued at the way his footprints would linger in a faint glow. His staff seemed to shine brighter in the blue light the crystal gave off, and once he reached the middle of the platform the alter sat on he barely had to look up to watch it spin slowly in place.

Desmond listened, trying to make out what the whispers coming from the crystal were trying to tell him. He didn't want to touch the crystal itself; interrupting its orbit felt wrong. His staff seemed to shudder in his hand, and Desmond stared at the calliper as it turned, matching the crystal.

Slowly, half in a trance, he reached up and tapped the point of his staff to the crystal. It gave a resonating bell-like sound, echoing back from the walls and the pools of water, shaking him down to the bones. Desmond exhaled deeply, and his breath steamed from the sudden cold. A jolt of electricity jumped between the calliper and the crystal, and then between the stalagmites as well. The stairs erupted into blue flames and the pools seemed to bow upwards toward the jumping zaps of lightning and when Desmond tried to run his feet had been iced over all the way up to his knees.

The crystal pulsed and turned purple, and Desmond stared into it trying to make out the form that wasn't whispering anymore, just laughing softly at him. He leaned in but he couldn't touch it couldn't move his feet and the shape inside was moving closer and still laughing at him and the ice was reaching his hips and the fire was licking its way toward him and Desmond knew the ice wouldn't stop it and the water was floating in globes the electricity was jumping between.

Desmond was heaving for air, gasping for it, his throat burning and freezing and raw and clogged and he could see inside the violet crystal a pair of eyes in a sly face, laughing at him, laughing at him and waiting for him to burn-freeze-fry-drown and-

"Oh." Desmond managed to breathe out. He got it.

He blinked and the light was back to blue, the water was back in its pools, no fire, no electricity, just Rebecca asking if there were any apples left. Desmond heaved for air and leaned against his staff, his legs numb and his back burning hot.

"Desmond, you okay?" Lucy called.

Desmond looked up at the crystal, unnerved by the silence of it now. "Yeah, I'm good."

He walked back down the stairs examining his staff's calliper, which had flipped upside down and gained two triangles on its new top. From the sides were two new gentle arches that didn't quite meet in the middle.

"Are you done already?" Rebecca asked. She was munching an apple, though she paused as Desmond got closer. "Whoa, you don't look so good. Sit down, eat something."

Desmond was more than happy to oblige her, snagging an apple for himself as he leaned his altered staff against his shoulder. Lucy looked curious, but didn't pry. Desmond smiled and handed it over so she could get a better look. The synthesist examined the new shape from all sides, while Shaun sighed.

"Well if it always goes that easily we should be able to get you into fighting shape in no time." Shaun remarked optimistically, though he didn't sound very sincere. Desmond nodded, not wanting to strain his sore throat any further.

Rebecca bumped his with her shoulder. "So what kind of summon is it?"

Desmond looked up to the crystal, then over to where Lucy was determining any new abilities his staff had gained. "The Fox." He croaked, ignoring Shaun's complaints and Rebecca's commiseration, staring at the metal eyes and ears of his staff. He could almost hear it laughing at him.


End file.
